Regrettably In Love
by dying-here
Summary: Harry gets a letter. Slash, not sure what pairing yet... First story, so bear with me.


**Title:** Regrettably In Love

**Rating:** I dunno, T for later chapters, maybe

***Insert witty disclaimer here***

**A/N:** Well, my first story. Be nice! I don't know what the pairing will be yet, so if any of you have any suggestions, review or message and tell me. I'm looking for a slash(boy/boy) pairing, but if you give me a good reason for a het pairing, I may reconsider it...

~~~*~~~*~~~

"I hate Valentine's Day," said a disgruntled Harry Potter.

"Harry, stop being mopey. It isn't that bad, is it? I mean, it's just a day," Hermione replied while reading the letter she got from her boyfriend. She smiled and looked to Ron, sitting a few feet away, reading the one he got from her. "Aw, Ron, that's so sweet."

Harry grimaced. "It _is_ that bad! At least you guys have each other! The only letters I get are from rabid fangirls begging to have my babies!" His friends snickered at that. "It isn't funny! I'm serious! It's disturbing. I _really_ hate Valentine's Day," he said while looking down at the imposing pile of letters, candy, and the rare flower. He sighed. "What am I gonna do with all this crap?"

Ron looked up and said, "You should still read them, mate. You never know, maybe someone sent you something meaningful this year. Plus, you got tons of candy! Why waste it?"

Hermione cleared her throat, and, being the responsible one, said, "About the candy, Harry, you should probably give it to someone to check it, just in case someone is trying to potion, or worse, poison you."

"Yea, yea, whatever," he said, gathering up the pile. "I'm just gonna take this stuff up to the dorms. I don't feel like going through all this with people watching. It's kind of embarrassing."

~~~*~~~*~~~

_Hmm, let's see. Alright, first, I'll get rid of all the letters with lipstick and stuff like that on them,_ he thought to himself. He tossed a stack of letters off the side of his bed. _Okay, now I'll get rid of everything that smells like perfume. It's starting to give me a headache._ He went through the pile, smelling each letter and tossing each into one of two piles. He cast _Incendio_ on the pile offending his sense of smell. _Eh, okay, I guess I can start reading them now._ He looked at the stack of remaining letters, now less than half the size of the pile he brought up with him, but still fairly large. He picked one up at random.

"Hmm, blah, blah, blah, _'your eyes are like glittering ivy,'_ nope." He tossed it to the floor and grabbed another. "Yadda, yadda, _'love you like the ocean loves the sky'_? What does that even mean?" He threw it down with the first. It went on like this for a while, Harry skimming a letter, sometimes making fun of it, and then throwing it on the floor.

"Wait, what's this?" He paused, going back to the top of maybe the 20th letter.

_Harry,_

_I feel incredibly ridiculous writing this, especially today. In fact, I'm very certain you won't even read it, seeing as how you've most likely gotten dozens, if not hundreds more. I suppose I just need to get this off my chest. I think I may be in love with you. No, I know I am in love with you, though I hate admitting it. I understand if you think this is just some joke, though I hope you will reconsider tossing this away, if that is indeed what you are about to do. In case you are wondering, yes, you do know me. Perhaps not as well as I want, but enough to know at least my name. You know me from school, though I will not tell you how, or even if I am still there. I am not comfortable with you knowing my identity yet. I hope you would like to stay in contact with me. I've put an address at the bottom of this letter if you do indeed wish to respond. Perhaps later I may reveal more information about myself, and maybe even my name. Not soon, of course, but I may eventually. I'm not begging you, but I would love writing back and forth with you. And don't expect to find me with the address I give you. It goes to a box to which only I have access. No one else knows the whereabouts of it, or even that it exists._

_Signed,_

Regrettably In Love

Harry read it over a few more times. He had no idea what to make of it. He thought about telling his friends, but he decided against it. For all he knew, it could be Hermione. Hell, it could be anyone, even Ron, but he severely doubted that. Ron was as straight as they came. Besides, he was totally and completely in love with Hermione. And on second thought, it didn't really look like Hermione's writing. Sure, she was excellent at penmanship, but he'd known her long enough to recognize the little telltale signs of her handwriting. Harry looked at the signature again. Something about it seemed very familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He reconsidered telling his friends. He was going to need some help.

~~~*~~~*~~~

"I don't know, Harry. You should probably just forget about it. You have no idea who it could be. They might be trying to lull you into a false sense of security, or something. I think you should just get rid of it," Hermione said after reading the letter.

"Aw, come on, Hermione, it's just a letter. And they already know where I am, so I don't think I'm in that much danger."

"But they might try to get you alone, or something, and attack you then," Ron stated.

"Jeez, you guys. I'm not some 13-year-old girl online for the first time. I think I'm a bit smarter than you think. I won't do anything ridiculous like that," Harry scoffed at his friends. "I'm kinda interested in talking to this person. They seem sincere, and they sound incredibly familiar. And look at the signature. I swear I've seen it before. What do you think?" Harry passed the letter to his friends again.

Hermione took a closer look at the name. "It does look familiar, but just because you've seen it before doesn't mean it's from someone friendly." Ron grabbed the letter from her hands and made a face.

"'Regrettably In Love'? What the hell? Anyone who talks like that can't be trusted, if you ask me." Hermione scowled at her boyfriend.

"What's wrong with a little romance, Ron? I think it shows class and intelligence."

Harry snickered and said, "I actually agree with Ron. I can't think of anyone who would talk like that, at least no one our age."

Ron gave the letter back to his friend. "So, what are you gonna do?"

Harry thought for a moment. "I think I'll write them back. It can't do much harm, can it? It's just like having a pen pal, actually."

Ron looked puzzled. "What's a pen pal?"

"It's when two people write letters back and forth, even though they don't really know each other. Just a silly muggle thing," Hermione replied. "Are you sure you want to risk it, Harry?"

"I'm sure. Stop being such a worrywart."

"Alright. Just don't be too trusting, okay?"


End file.
